Terms & Conditions

These Terms and Conditions govern your use of the Lantern Cipher website and set out the basis on which we offer our advisory engagement services. Please read them carefully before using this website or engaging our services.

If you have questions before proceeding, you are welcome to write to us at [email protected] before accepting these terms.

1. Definitions

The following terms carry specific meanings throughout this document:

• Agreement — these Terms and Conditions, together with any written engagement scope document agreed between the parties.
• Service — the advisory engagement services offered by Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd, described in Section 3 below.
• User / You / Your — any individual or entity that accesses this website or engages our services.
• We / Us / Our — Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd, a company registered in Malaysia, with its principal place of business at Tower 8, Avenue 5, Bangsar South, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
• Content — all text, documents, data, reports, briefs, and other materials published on this website or produced in connection with a Service engagement.
• Deliverable — the written output produced at the conclusion of a Service engagement, as specified in the engagement scope document.
• Engagement Scope — the written document agreed between us and the client prior to commencement of an advisory engagement, setting out the scope, timeline, and fee.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing this website, submitting a contact enquiry, or entering into an advisory engagement with us, you confirm that:

• You are at least 18 years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement.
• Where you are acting on behalf of an organisation, you have authority to bind that organisation to these terms.
• You have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

If you do not agree with any part of these terms, please refrain from using this website or engaging our services.

3. Service Description

Advisory engagements offered

Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd provides digital transformation advisory services to management teams and organisations based primarily in Malaysia. The three engagement types currently offered are:

• Digital Direction Read — a two-week structured engagement producing a written read of coherent technology investment directions for management consideration.
• Systems Stocktake & Sequencing Plan — a four to five-week engagement producing a current-state software inventory and a sequencing plan for the following twelve to eighteen months.
• Internal Tooling Brief — a one-week engagement producing a one-page written recommendation on a single internal tool decision.

Service availability

We offer services primarily to organisations operating in Malaysia. Engagements with organisations outside Malaysia may be considered on a case-by-case basis and are subject to separate written agreement.

Website availability

We make reasonable efforts to keep this website available and accurate, but we do not represent that it will be continuously available or free of errors. We reserve the right to modify or withdraw website content without notice.

4. User Responsibilities

Acceptable use

When using this website or engaging with our services, you agree to:

• Provide accurate, complete, and current information when submitting contact enquiries or entering into engagements.
• Use the website and any deliverables only for lawful purposes.
• Respect the intellectual property rights described in Section 5.
• Keep any login credentials or access details confidential, where applicable.

Conduct in engagements

During an active advisory engagement, you agree to:

• Make relevant personnel available for the structured workshops and short interviews specified in the engagement scope.
• Provide access to the internal information necessary for us to carry out the agreed scope of work.
• Raise concerns about scope or approach promptly rather than at the point of delivery.

Prohibited activities

You must not:

• Use this website or any deliverable to cause harm to third parties.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of our website or systems.
• Introduce malicious code or interfere with the functioning of the website.
• Reproduce, resell, or distribute deliverables produced for your engagement to third parties without our prior written consent.
• Misrepresent our work or our involvement with your organisation.

5. Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property

All content on this website — including text, structure, design, methodology descriptions, and brand elements — is the intellectual property of Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd or its licensors and is protected under Malaysian intellectual property law.

Your licence to use the website

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use this website for the purpose of evaluating or engaging our services. This licence does not permit you to copy, adapt, redistribute, or commercially exploit any part of this website without our prior written consent.

Deliverables from engagements

Upon receipt of full payment for an engagement, we assign to you ownership of the specific written deliverable produced for that engagement. We retain ownership of the underlying methodology, frameworks, and general approaches used to produce the deliverable. We may reference the fact of an engagement (without disclosing client identity or confidential content) for our own internal purposes.

Third-party materials

Where our website links to or references third-party content, we make no claim of ownership over that content. Links are provided for context only.

6. Payment Terms

Fees

Our engagement fees are stated in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) and are current at the time of publication. Fees may be updated from time to time; the fee applicable to your engagement is that confirmed in the written engagement scope document.

• Digital Direction Read: RM 850
• Systems Stocktake & Sequencing Plan: RM 2,250
• Internal Tooling Brief: RM 520

Payment schedule

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, payment terms are as follows:

• A deposit of 50% of the agreed fee is due upon signing of the engagement scope document.
• The remaining 50% is due upon delivery of the final deliverable.

Accepted payment methods

We accept payment by bank transfer to accounts held with Malaysian financial institutions. Details are provided in the engagement scope document. We do not currently accept payment by card directly through this website.

Late payment

Where payment is not received within 14 days of the due date, we reserve the right to pause work on the engagement until the outstanding amount is settled.

Refund policy

If an engagement is cancelled by you before commencement, the deposit will not be returned unless otherwise agreed in writing. If an engagement is cancelled by us before commencement, the full deposit will be returned within 10 business days. Post-commencement cancellation terms are addressed in Section 12.

7. Engagement Terms

Scope and changes

Each engagement is governed by a written scope document agreed before commencement. If your requirements change during an engagement, we will discuss the implications with you. Material changes to scope may require an amendment to the timeline or fee, which will be agreed in writing before additional work proceeds.

Timelines

The timelines stated in our service descriptions are indicative of typical engagements conducted with reasonable client availability. Where access to personnel or information is delayed, timelines may extend accordingly. We will communicate any timeline changes promptly.

Delivery

Deliverables are provided as written documents, typically in PDF and editable formats. Delivery is made by email to the contact address specified in the engagement scope document.

Revisions

Each engagement includes one round of written feedback on the draft deliverable. Feedback should be provided within 5 business days of receiving the draft. Additional revision rounds beyond this are outside the standard engagement scope and are subject to separate agreement.

8. Confidentiality

We treat all internal business information shared with us during an engagement as confidential. We will not disclose your organisation's internal data, strategies, or financial information to third parties without your prior written consent, except where required by law.

In turn, we ask that you treat any proprietary methodologies, frameworks, or approaches we share with you during the engagement as confidential and not disclose them to third parties.

These confidentiality obligations apply for a period of three years from the conclusion of the engagement, unless a longer period is specified in the written engagement scope document.

9. Disclaimers

Nature of advisory services

Our services are advisory in nature. We provide analysis, written reads, inventories, and recommendations to assist your management team in making more considered decisions. We do not make decisions on your behalf, and the implementation of any recommendations remains your organisation's responsibility.

No outcome representation

We do not represent that following our recommendations will produce any particular business result. Digital transformation outcomes are shaped by many factors beyond the scope of any advisory engagement, including implementation quality, market conditions, and organisational capacity.

Website content

The information on this website is provided for general informational purposes. It does not constitute professional advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for a formal engagement with us or other appropriate advisors.

Third-party services

Where our deliverables reference or evaluate third-party software, platforms, or vendors, those references reflect our assessment at the time of writing. We are not responsible for changes to those products or services after delivery.

10. Limitation of Liability

Cap on liability

To the fullest extent permitted by Malaysian law, our total liability to you arising out of or in connection with any engagement — whether in contract, tort, or otherwise — is limited to the fee paid by you for the specific engagement that gave rise to the claim.

Excluded types of loss

We are not liable for any indirect, consequential, or incidental loss, including but not limited to loss of revenue, loss of profit, loss of business opportunity, or damage to reputation, arising from your use of our services or reliance on our deliverables.

Force majeure

We are not liable for delays or failures to perform our obligations where those delays or failures arise from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to natural events, government action, or failure of third-party infrastructure.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd and its personnel from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal costs) arising from:

• Your breach of these Terms and Conditions.
• Your misuse of our website or any deliverable produced for your engagement.
• Any misrepresentation made by you in connection with an engagement.
• Any infringement by you of a third party's intellectual property or other rights.

12. Termination

Termination by either party

Either party may terminate an active engagement by giving 5 business days' written notice to the other. Notice should be sent to the email address used in the engagement scope document.

Termination by us

We reserve the right to terminate an engagement immediately where you have materially breached these terms, failed to make a payment within the period specified in Section 6, or where the continuation of the engagement would require us to act unlawfully.

Effect of termination

Where an engagement is terminated after commencement, you will be invoiced for work completed to the termination date, calculated on a pro-rata basis. Where termination is initiated by us without cause, the deposit will be returned in proportion to the work not yet completed.

Survival

The provisions of Sections 5 (Intellectual Property), 8 (Confidentiality), 9 (Disclaimers), 10 (Limitation of Liability), 11 (Indemnification), and 13 (Dispute Resolution) survive termination of any engagement.

13. Dispute Resolution

Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Malaysia. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms or an engagement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Malaysia.

Informal resolution

Before initiating any formal process, we ask that you contact us at [email protected] to describe the concern in writing. We will respond within 5 business days and make a genuine effort to resolve the matter without escalation.

Mediation

If informal resolution does not succeed within 30 days of the initial written notice, either party may refer the matter to mediation under the rules of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) before initiating court proceedings.

14. General Provisions

Entire agreement

These Terms and Conditions, together with the written engagement scope document (where applicable), constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersede all prior discussions and understandings.

Severability

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable under applicable law, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force.

Waiver

Our failure to exercise or enforce any right under these terms does not constitute a waiver of that right. Any waiver must be in writing to be effective.

Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our obligations in connection with a restructuring or transfer of our business, provided we give you written notice.

Notice

Formal notices under these terms should be sent in writing to [email protected] or to our registered address at Tower 8, Avenue 5, Bangsar South, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time to reflect changes in our services, applicable law, or business practice. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

For active engagements, changes to these terms will not apply retroactively — the terms in effect at the time your engagement scope document was signed will govern that engagement.

Continued use of this website after updated terms are posted constitutes acceptance of those updates.

16. Contact

For questions about these Terms and Conditions, or to raise a concern under Section 13:

Lantern Cipher Sdn Bhd
Tower 8, Avenue 5, Bangsar South
59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Legal enquiries: [email protected]

Phone: +60 3-7841 6235

General enquiries: [email protected]

Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm MYT